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Kansas has its way with Nebraska

Jan 30, 2007 - 6:23 AM LINCOLN, Nebraska (Ticker) -- Kansas has made a habit of dominating Nebraska but never like this.

Brandon Rush scored 20 points to lead the sixth-ranked Jayhawks to a 76-56 Big 12 Conference victory over the Cornhuskers.

In beating Nebraska for the 16th time in the last 17 meetings, Kansas turned in an overpowering performance in the first half.

The Jayhawks (19-3, 6-1 Big 12) scored 27 consecutive points while holding the Cornhuskers scoreless for over 13 1/2 minutes to take a startling 39-6 lead with 3:14 to play in the first half.

"I thought that we played great early. That's about as well as you can execute," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "That's about the best 17 minutes a team can play, or at least this team. They missed some shots, but I thought our defense was outstanding. We did a lot of things well. We didn't play near as well after the first 17 minutes. We lost a little focus."

Rush was the trigger man for Kansas, starting the spree with two 3-pointers and scoring 10 of the first 12 points in the spurt to push the lead advantage to 24-6 with just under 11 minutes to go.

Freshman Sherron Collins and Julian Wright connected from the arc before freshman Darrell Arthur completed a three-point play to cap off the 27-0 run.

"What can I say? I mean obviously we all know Kansas is a good basketball team, but it's more than that," Cornuskers coach Doc Sadler said. "I thought we were ready to play somebody like that. I didn't know if we could win the basketball game, but I thought we could compete.

"And the fact of the matter is we were scared, and why I don't know."

Nebraska (12-8, 1-5) finally ended a 13:40 scoring drought on Jay-R Strowbridge's layup with 2:26 left as Kansas carried a 43-16 lead into the half.

Wright scored 17 points for the Jayhawks, who have won 13 of their last 14 games.

Freshman Ryan Anderson hit six 3-pointers en route to scoring 19 points for the Cornhuskers, who were outrebounded, 41-27.

"They're a great basketball team all around," Anderson said. "They run their stuff, they don't change. They just keep doing what they do and they play hard."

Nebraska's leading scorer, 6-11 center Aleks Maric, was held without a point in the first half and finished with nine and six rebounds.

"I was surprised (how much we controlled him) in the first half," Self said. "Our perimeter defense was good enough to not allow easy passes to the post and he got a couple of fouls early, which made it easier for us. Second half, we didn't do as good a job."